Ayra Starr talks about the international success of her song "Rush," becoming the youngest African female artist to surpass 100 million views on YouTube, getting her first Grammy nomination, her aspiration to be a teenage pop star, the growth of popularity of the Afrobeats genre and where she sees the future of the genre going and more!
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00:00 I wasn't here two years ago now I'm doing an interview with Billboard.
00:03 Fresh out the Grammys.
00:04 Girl.
00:04 Hello, I'm Iris Starrr and you're watching Billboard News.
00:09 Hey everybody, it's Rania Nipdos with Billboard News and I am so excited.
00:24 We have the Afrobeats queen herself in the studio today, Iris Starrr.
00:29 Hello.
00:30 Welcome to the studio.
00:31 Thank you for having me.
00:32 I'm excited.
00:33 You were just nominated, your first ever Grammy nomination.
00:50 How did that feel?
00:51 Amazing.
00:52 I had a great time at the Grammys.
00:54 All the after parties.
00:55 Even before the Grammys I was just like, I'm at the Grammys.
00:59 You can see me at the red carpets.
01:00 I was having a good time, let me tell you.
01:03 Was there something that surprised you over the course of the week that you were like,
01:06 I was expecting this but this happened instead?
01:09 To be honest, anytime I come to LA, I'm always indoors.
01:14 I never do anything.
01:16 People know me but people don't really know me like that.
01:19 They know my music but they don't know me.
01:20 This time, every room I walked into, Iris Starrr was like, wow.
01:25 I started fangirling over the people that were fangirling over me.
01:27 Like, you know me.
01:28 I was like, yeah!
01:29 That was the best thing.
01:30 That also must feel so validating too that it's like all the hard work you've been putting
01:33 in your career is paying off from your peers, you know, and recognition from your peers.
01:38 How special.
01:39 I love that.
01:40 And you were also nominated in a brand new category this year at the Grammy Awards, Best
01:44 African Music Performance.
01:46 What does that mean for you for African music to get its own new category at the Grammys?
01:52 It's been a long time coming because African music has been it.
01:55 It's been popping for such a long time.
01:57 Afrobeats has been taking over the world.
01:59 I feel like this is very validating for everybody that's put in efforts for this.
02:03 African music has taken over the world.
02:05 It's literally the best genre in the world.
02:08 So yeah, it was a long time coming.
02:10 What do you think it is about African music that's resonating so much in the last few
02:14 years on a global audience?
02:16 African music sounds very different from anything you've ever heard.
02:19 So true.
02:20 Even though it's sad, even though it's slow, you're going to move your body.
02:23 100%.
02:24 You're going to feel good about yourself.
02:25 I don't know what it is.
02:28 I think it's high vibrational music.
02:30 We're really blessed.
02:31 God blessed us.
02:32 All the girls going to find you.
02:33 All the guys going to find me.
02:36 It establishes a culture where you can dance through your pain.
02:39 You can get through anything.
02:41 Exactly.
02:42 Through rhythm, through unity.
02:43 Exactly.
02:44 We like to dance.
02:45 Africans like to dance.
02:46 We like to dance.
02:47 You sure do.
02:48 I love it.
02:49 I love it.
02:50 And I mean, you also, speaking of you like to dance, Rush.
02:55 Completely took over music.
03:02 Did you know when writing it that this was going to be your mega hit?
03:07 Definitely not.
03:08 I was so convinced.
03:09 They had to convince me to put that song out because I wasn't sure.
03:13 And when it did come out, when it started blowing up, I was like having the worst case
03:17 of imposter syndrome.
03:18 Really?
03:19 Girl.
03:20 What was it that you weren't sure about?
03:21 Why did they have to push you?
03:23 I think I wasn't just sure.
03:26 I put out different sounds all the time.
03:28 But with Rush, Rush was very different from anything I had put out.
03:30 Right.
03:31 And it was like, "I don't know if I want to do this."
03:33 It's just very different.
03:34 And everyone was like, "Trust me, Aira.
03:36 Just trust your team."
03:37 I was like, "Okay.
03:38 Let's do it."
03:39 And when it came out, it blew up immediately.
03:41 Even from the snippet, like a 30-second snippet, it was already trending.
03:44 And it blew up and I was like, "I have to have imposter syndrome because nothing like
03:47 that has ever happened to me."
03:48 So I was like, "I don't know.
03:49 I don't know if I deserve this."
03:50 You know how it goes.
03:52 I was about to say, I am the queen of imposter syndrome.
03:56 How do you handle that?
03:57 Just even advice for me.
03:59 What do you do to deal with that type of thing that you're like, "What am I doing here?
04:03 I don't belong here."
04:04 You do belong.
04:05 It's true.
04:06 And so do you.
04:07 You 100% do.
04:08 I do.
04:09 I'm so glad that you are here because I feel like as women too sometimes, we're supposed
04:15 to be told not to bask in our accomplishments, to not allow yourself to get too confident,
04:20 too cocky.
04:21 Exactly.
04:22 But it's like, why not?
04:23 You worked for it.
04:24 You worked hard.
04:25 I've been doing this for a long time.
04:26 I've seen a lot of women put hard work and even more than the men, so much work into
04:32 this.
04:33 And it's like they try to be humble about it.
04:35 You're told to be humble every time.
04:37 You set an immediate record on YouTube.
04:45 You're the youngest female artist to surpass 100 million views on a single YouTube video,
04:51 and you did that in just five days.
04:54 How insane was that?
04:55 How does it feel to represent not only young women, but black young women and young women
05:01 in the African genre?
05:03 When I was growing up, I didn't have that representation.
05:05 I was a big Disney girl.
05:07 I used to watch Disney and all the pop stars.
05:10 I wanted to be a pop star, but I wanted to be a teenage pop star to be exact.
05:13 I wanted to be the Black Hannah Montana.
05:15 I love that.
05:16 You are.
05:17 Look at her.
05:18 Look at her.
05:19 She is.
05:20 Look at this.
05:21 I wanted to be the Black Hannah Montana.
05:22 I was like, "Okay, you know what?
05:23 I'm going to grow up and I'm going to be that representation for black women and African
05:28 girls.
05:29 I want my younger sister to feel inspired by this and her friends and everybody.
05:33 I want young people to be able to feel inspired by this."
05:35 I felt like I had a responsibility to do that.
05:38 I think you're probably breaking that generational thing where a young girl is going to look
05:43 at you and be like, "No, I deserve to do that.
05:45 I want to do that.
05:46 I can."
05:47 I think that that's so full circle in the most beautiful way.
05:51 Of course, it's a gift that keeps on giving because now you have over 300 million views
05:55 on this.
05:56 What is it about the song that you think just keeps hitting?
05:59 It keeps getting better.
06:01 I keep seeing videos.
06:02 It's trending again on TikTok.
06:04 I released it in 2022.
06:07 It's inescapable for the past two years.
06:08 I'm telling you.
06:09 People love the song so much and it's reaching new places.
06:13 I think in the Philippines, it was number one in chat yesterday again.
06:18 It's top five in at least 10 countries right now.
06:21 But then now you also switched pace a little bit with "Kama."
06:24 You slowed it down a bit.
06:32 I think that that's really special because it creates a different side of you, a little
06:36 bit more emotional, especially with the lyrics.
06:39 How did it feel being able to amplify a more emotional voice in your music?
06:45 When I started singing, I know people used to feel very touched by my voice.
06:50 When I used to sing in secondary school, I would just cry because I would sing the saddest
06:54 songs.
06:55 My voice has always had that thing where it makes people feel no matter what I'm singing.
07:00 So I was like, "You know what?
07:01 With 'Kama,' I want people to feel exactly how...
07:04 I want them to feel this song."
07:06 And I had 15 versions of "Kama" before the one I released.
07:09 15?
07:10 15 versions.
07:11 Wow.
07:12 With the same lyrics but just sung differently?
07:14 Just sung differently from the beats.
07:15 I was...
07:16 From the production to ad-libs.
07:19 I want people to transcend when they listen to it.
07:21 I want them to feel good and just be different people when they heard the song.
07:25 It goes back again to the high vibrational.
07:27 You want not only to listen to the music but to feel it.
07:30 So when you sit down to write a song like "Kama," how do you go about lyrically writing
07:36 the songs?
07:37 Because it's something that I've always found interesting because I have such a hard time
07:40 expressing how I feel in words.
07:42 How do you even go about, I guess, structuring that in your brain?
07:45 When it comes to love songs, I'm horrible.
07:50 I will write the best heartbreak song.
07:51 That's what everyone says.
07:52 It comes so easy for me.
07:53 Yeah.
07:54 That song is so easy.
07:55 I'm like, "I never trust that man."
07:57 It's so easy for me.
07:58 It's like you have something to say.
08:01 Yeah.
08:02 But for "Kama," "Rush," I think of people I collaborate with.
08:07 From my brother to M. Brio who collaborated with me on "Rush," I feel like when I collaborate
08:11 with the right people, they bring out the best versions of me.
08:14 Like M. Brio, I call him my therapist.
08:17 Music is therapy.
08:19 Yeah.
08:20 We talk and we end up making the best music just from having a deep conversation.
08:26 Having someone that you trust is the key to something like that.
08:30 Because how else are you going to be honest in your music if you don't trust the person?
08:34 Exactly.
08:35 From the producers, everybody in the studio have to be very comfortable so I can give
08:38 my best and feel my freest.
08:41 And "Kama" is going to be included on an album, correct, that you're working on?
08:46 Mm-hmm.
08:47 Hey!
08:48 I need to know everything about it basically, or at least whatever you're comfortable telling
08:51 me.
08:52 Because I think "Rush" and "Kama," you do play around with sound a lot.
08:57 Who is the Irish star that you want to introduce on this upcoming project?
09:01 Who is she?
09:02 The Irish star I want to introduce is excellent.
09:06 She absolutely is.
09:07 Sonically amazing.
09:08 I feel like this album is just a new vibe.
09:12 Not really a new vibe.
09:13 It's unique because I've been evolving sonically.
09:16 And as a girl, I feel like I'm way more feminine than I was last year.
09:22 I wear pink more now.
09:23 I never used to like pink because I felt embarrassed.
09:25 Really?
09:26 Because I was like, "Yeah, everybody just says pink."
09:27 I used to feel embarrassed.
09:28 But now I'm like, "I'm going to wear pink."
09:31 Yeah, like in the summer of Barbie, now we wear pink.
09:33 Why not?
09:34 100%.
09:35 Why not?
09:36 Because I feel like I've grown so much as even a person.
09:37 And you can hear that in my music.
09:40 Sonically, production-wise, everything is just way better.
09:44 And I feel like this new version, it's not really a new version.
09:46 It's just like a more evolved.
09:52 You have a very interesting story that I feel like not a lot of people know about.
09:57 Oh, please watch.
09:58 I mean, you had a deal with your parents that they would not let you pursue music unless
10:04 you got an education.
10:06 And you took that tenfold and you graduated university.
10:09 I was like, "Let's go."
10:11 At 14 years old, you guys.
10:13 14 years old.
10:14 Yes.
10:15 I went to university at 14.
10:16 And I feel like my mom has been using music to blackmail me since I was a child.
10:20 That'll do it.
10:21 If you want to do music, you have to do this.
10:22 If you want to do like, it was always like that.
10:25 So remember, we were coming into Lagos.
10:26 She was like, "Yeah, we have to, we're moving into Lagos."
10:28 I was like, "I don't want to move."
10:29 And she was like, "Yeah, this is the land where you pursue music."
10:32 I was like, "Okay, let's go.
10:33 Off I go."
10:34 You know?
10:35 I was like, "Let's go."
10:36 Mom was like, "Okay, if you want to do music, you have to finish school first."
10:39 I was like, "Okay."
10:40 It was like that.
10:41 And I knew that if I waited till I was 15, because usually a lot of people in Nigeria
10:47 finish secondary school at 15, 16.
10:50 That's a very normal thing.
10:51 So I was like, "Oh, if I waited till I was 15, I wouldn't be able to be a teenage popstar."
10:54 And I wanted to be a teenage popstar.
10:55 That was key.
10:56 I wanted to be a teenager when I started.
10:57 Specific.
10:58 It was very specific.
10:59 I wanted to be a teenage popstar.
11:00 So I was like, "Okay."
11:01 I did my, like, you guys call it SATs here.
11:06 I did my SATs.
11:07 Me and my brother.
11:08 My brother is like a year older than me.
11:09 I joined my brother.
11:10 I did my SATs.
11:11 I got in.
11:12 To be honest, it wasn't that the results were in that, like, "Oh, crazy.
11:13 You get me into this Ivy League school or whatever."
11:14 But enough to pass by.
11:15 It was enough.
11:16 It was enough for my mom.
11:17 I was like, "Okay, okay.
11:18 You can get into a good school."
11:19 Right.
11:20 Okay.
11:21 We went into school.
11:22 My course was for three years.
11:23 It was international relations.
11:24 And the way God works, after university, I really, I got, like, I started doing, like,
11:25 you know, covers online.
11:26 Yeah.
11:27 The same year.
11:28 That same year, I got signed.
11:29 Wow.
11:30 That's the way it is.
11:31 It's like, you just, you just...
11:32 You simply spoke to God.
11:33 Yeah.
11:34 I did.
11:35 I definitely did.
11:36 You were like, "I'm going to be a teenage pop star.
11:37 I will get my education.
11:38 I will become, like, international."
11:39 I believed it so much.
11:40 Wow.
11:41 I believed it so much.
11:42 That's crazy.
11:43 And you also spent your childhood split, from what I understand, between Nigeria and Benin
11:44 Republic, right?
11:45 Yeah.
11:46 What was it like having that crossover between two different countries, two different experiences
11:47 in your former school?
11:48 It was crazy.
11:49 I mean, I was like, "Oh, my God.
11:50 I'm going to be a teenager pop star.
11:51 I'm going to be a teenager pop star.
11:52 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
11:53 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
11:54 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
11:55 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
12:16 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
12:40 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:06 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:13 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:14 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:15 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:16 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:17 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:18 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:19 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:20 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:21 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:22 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:23 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:24 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:25 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:26 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:27 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:28 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
13:29 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
13:55 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:02 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:03 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:04 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:05 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:06 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:07 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:08 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:09 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:10 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:11 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:12 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:13 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:14 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:15 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:16 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:17 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:18 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:44 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:51 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:52 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:53 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:54 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:55 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:56 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:57 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
14:58 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
14:59 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:00 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:01 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:02 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:03 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:04 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:05 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:06 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:07 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:13 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:14 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:15 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:16 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:17 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:18 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:19 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:20 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:21 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:22 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:23 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:24 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:25 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:26 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:27 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:28 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:29 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:57 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
15:58 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
15:59 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:00 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
16:01 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:02 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
16:03 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:04 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
16:05 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:06 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
16:07 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:08 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
16:09 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:10 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
16:11 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:12 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
16:13 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:14 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
16:37 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
16:58 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:24 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:31 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:40 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:41 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:42 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:43 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:44 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:45 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:46 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:47 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:48 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:49 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:50 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:51 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:52 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:53 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:54 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:55 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:56 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:57 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
17:58 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
17:59 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
18:00 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
18:01 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
18:02 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
18:03 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
18:04 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
18:05 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
18:06 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
18:07 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
18:08 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
18:09 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
18:10 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
18:31 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
18:32 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
18:33 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."
18:34 And I was like, "Oh, my God.
18:35 I'm going to be a teenager pop star."